Devil's Playground
by StaindRedGlass
Summary: STORY 16: The marine community of Cedar Grove holds a dark secret which NCIS must uncover in order to save the life of a young boy who mysteriously disappeared. During the course of the investigation, Tony is distracted due to personal reasons.
1. Chapter 1

Here's the 16th story in my series. If you haven't read the other stories, then I advise you to not proceed until you do. This is a series. It runs in sequence. To understand certain things (especially where Jamie came from), it's best to just start at the beginning. This series is kind of like my very own NCIS season 4. As of this point, the series consists of: story 1 A Link to the Past (comes in 3 parts)… story 2 Wrong Place, Wrong Time… story 3 Second Job… story 4 Daughters… story 5 A Personal Vendetta… story 6 Bless the Children… story 7 Eyes of the Condemned… story 8 Disturbing Affection… story 9 No Man Left Behind (story that introduces Chioke; aka Kid)… story 10 Finger Swap… story 11 Imperfect Heist… story 12 The Color of Skin… story 13 Death to the Jedi… story 14 Brotherly Love… story 15 For the Love of a Child… story 16 Devil's Playground (current story). Hope you enjoy it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Monday**

**Chapter 1**

Tony is in the bathroom on the third floor of NCIS Headquarters. After walking away from the toilet, it automatically flushes. He walks to the sink and stares at his reflection in the mirror. Tony becomes lost in the trance of a couple flashbacks from when he was tortured in North Korea over a month ago. Time is lost to him.

"Tony…" McGee tries to get his attention. Tony snaps out of the trance. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Probie." Tony said. He turns the knob on the sink. Water pours out. He begins washing his hands.

"You're not fine. You've been in here for fifteen minutes." McGee said. "There was a problem at Chioke's school..."

"What happened?! Is Chioke okay?!" Tony becomes overly worried.

"Apparently a water pipe burst just minutes before they arrived at the school. The parents of the children who were already there were called to pick up their children. So Jamie is at your desk with Chioke right now. She needs you to take him because…"

"I know she has class and her interview today!" Tony exclaimed in a snippy tone of voice, though he's unsure why it came out the way it did. He sees the expression on McGee's face. "I didn't mean it, McGee. It's just…"

"You don't have to explain anything to me, Tony. I don't really know what went down in North Korea, but…"

"You know where I find my strength in dealing with what happened?"

"Burritos?"

"No… Not burritos." Tony said. "Chioke really wasn't affected at all by what happened in North Korea. I see the innocence in his eyes… See the smile on his face… And everything feels fine. It all goes away. I don't think I could've gotten back to normal so quickly if it wasn't for him."

"I hate to break it to you, Tony… But you're not your normal self. You've been in here staring at yourself…" McGee begins to say but stops because Tony smacked him on the back of the head. "Or I can be more supportive and agree with you."

"When you love someone… Whether the person is a parent, a sibling, a friend, a partner or your child… You feel at peace just by looking at that person. No matter how much the storm surges in your mind, all you feel is peace. I find the strength in my love for Chioke." Tony cracks a smile. "Things are close to being normal again. Thanks for listening, McGee." Tony said as he walks toward the door. The door opens and Tony leaves the bathroom. The door closes.

"You're welcome." McGee said softly.

Tony walks leisurely in front of the elevator. At the desk, Chioke is sitting on the chair eating a late breakfast. Jamie is standing nearby. Tony enters into the bullpen. He gives Jamie a quick kiss and walks to the chair.

"I was just told the school closed today." Tony goes to sit down on his chair. With his little hands, Chioke playfully taps Tony on the butt. "My chair hit me. Did you see that?" Tony turns around to look at his chair. Jamie giggles at Tony's silliness. Chioke smiles cheerfully as Tony examines the chair with him sitting on it. "That's odd… There's nothing wrong with my chair and it didn't suddenly come to life." He turns around and goes to sit on the chair again. His butt is once again tapped. Tony turns around and looks at the chair. "Chioke… I didn't see you there. When did you take my chair?"

'I be here whole time.' Chioke signed with his hands and with a smile on his face. 'Silly daddy.'

Tony pushes the chair closer to the desk so Chioke can reach his breakfast. Jamie brings a chair over so Tony can sit. Tony and Chioke are both sitting behind the desk.

"We arrived at the school to find it being closed down for the day and children being sent home. More than half of the rooms in the school are flooded." Jamie stated. "The school will reopen on Wednesday."

"You hear that buddy." Tony looks to Chioke. "You get to join me here at work for two days."

Chioke claps his hands in excitement. Tony looks back to Jamie.

"Are you ready for your interview?" Tony asked.

"I'm nervous, but it'll be fine." Jamie said.

"I remember when I got my assessment done."

"Let me guess… The agent who interviewed you was cute and you asked for her phone number several times."

"She was clearly leading me to believe she was interested."

"Tell me again why I put up with you?"

"Cause you love Lucky Charms and I'm magically delicious." Tony grins. Jamie rolls her eyes. He looks to the desk to see what Chioke is eating. "Are you going to share?"

'No.' Chioke signed with his hands and with having a smile on his face. He picks up the bagel and breaks off a piece. Chioke lifts the piece toward Tony's mouth and gently places it inside.

"Thank you." Tony said while chewing on the bagel. "You can have some of my waffles."

'No talk with mouth full.' Chioke signed.

"Chioke…" Jamie tries to get his attention. "You need to help me teach daddy some manners."

"I don't have bad manners." Tony stated while chewing on piece of a waffle. Jamie and Chioke both shake their heads.

"Alright, well… I have to go to class before coming back here for my interview." Jamie stated. "I'll see you later." She leans down and kisses Tony. After kissing Tony, she kisses Chioke on the forehead. "You boys behave yourselves today."

Jamie walks away. She waits at the elevator. The door finally opens. Gibbs steps off the elevator and Jamie tries to get on. Gibbs steps in front of his daughter. Jamie steps to the side in order to get passed him but once again he blocks her path.

"I'm going to be late for class if you don't move." Jamie said.

"There was a batch of waffles on the table this morning…" Gibbs begins to say.

"Oh yeah… You can find the waffles on Tony's desk. He stole them before leaving this morning." Jamie said. "I know living with Tony for the past three weeks has been difficult because you're not used to live-in company and sharing. But thanks for letting us stay while we're waiting for our house." She kisses him on the cheek. "I love you Daddy."

Jamie moves to the side and walks into the elevator. Gibbs walks in the direction of the bullpen. Tony moves the container of waffles from the top of his desk.

"There's no point in hiding my waffles, DiNozzo." Gibbs said as he enters into the bullpen.

"Sorry, Boss." Tony apologized for stealing Gibbs' breakfast. "Your waffles are just so good. I didn't realize you can actually cook."

"Ziva made the waffles."

"I should've known you could never make something this delicious." Tony said. He notices the expression on Gibbs' face. "Not that you don't know how to cook or that anything you make tastes like garbage. Not that I really even tried your cooking before, which I'm sure doesn't taste all that bad…" He paused for a couple seconds. "I'm just digging myself a hole here."

"You think, DiNozzo."

Ziva, along with McGee enter into the bullpen. As Gibbs is walking to get out of the bullpen, Ziva approaches and hands him a coffee cup. Tony observes this behavior as he has ever since they got back from North Korea over a month ago. Gibbs walks away. Ziva grabs something from her desk and also leaves the area. Tony, McGee and Chioke are left alone in the bullpen. McGee sits at his desk. Tony takes out an MP3 player and headphones.

"I need to chat with McGee." Tony said to Chioke. "Listen to your music, okay." He places the headphones onto Chioke and pushes the play button. Chioke is now listening to music. Tony walks over to McGee's desk and sits on the edge. "Have you noticed how much Ziva has been kissing Gibbs' ass for over a month now?"

"No I haven't, Tony." McGee replied. He continues working.

"You can't tell me you haven't noticed she comes to work with a coffee for him and also when coming back from lunch. She even makes him waffles. Very good waffles, I might add."

"Does this have a point? Cause I have a lot of work to do."

"Gibbs and Ziva are doing it."

"So in your warped mind; coffees and waffles equal sex."

"Probie, Probie, Probie…" Tony shakes his head in disappointment. "You have a lot to learn to about women."

"So do you, DiNozzo." Gibbs said while standing near the window.

Tony's face cringes from being caught. He refrains from turning around to face the direction of the window, hoping Gibbs will leave the area. A minute passes.

"Is he still there?" Tony asked. McGee looks up toward the direction of the window and sees Gibbs standing there.

"He's gone." McGee answered. Tony turns his head and sees Gibbs glaring at him. He quickly turns to McGee and smacks him on the back of the head.

"DiNozzo…" Gibbs tries to get his attention. Tony turns his head and smiles innocently. Gibbs points in the direction of the elevator. Tony's head turns even further in order to see what Gibbs is pointing at.

Tony's hearts beats rapidly. His breathing becomes deeper and heavier. Tony looks at Chioke then back to the elevator. The eyes of the man at the elevator lock onto Tony in recognition. Arthur, the man who Chioke lived with for two years after his family was murdered, smiles and waves at him. Tony is frozen as he stares at Chioke.

Chioke's eyes lock onto Arthur. The expression on his face changes drastically. To Tony, he doesn't think he's ever seen Chioke so happy before. Chioke quickly takes the headphones off and runs to Arthur in excitement. Arthur lifts Chioke into his arms. Chioke holds onto Arthur as tightly as he can.

"Hello, Agent Gibbs." Arthur greeted Gibbs by shaking his hand.

"Good to see you again, Arthur." Gibbs greeted him back. "How are things in Nigeria?"

"The work in my homeland is done. But I can't go back. I am looked upon as being a traitor. For my work, I have been granted asylum in the U.S." There's a couple seconds of silence as Arthur looks at Chioke. "I missed you, Kid."

'Miss you too.' Chioke signed his hands. 'I have name. I know how tell you. My name, Chioke.'

"What are you doing?" Arthur wondered because he has no idea what Chioke's hand motions are.

"He's communicating with you through ASL; American Sign Language." Gibbs answered because Tony is still frozen in shock. "He's telling you he missed you too. And that his name is Chioke."

"Your name is Chioke." Arthur acknowledged the name and is happy to finally know the boy's name. Chioke smiles and nods his head. "It's good to finally know your name after all this time." Chioke wraps his arms around Arthur's neck. Tony looks down as his heart continues racing. Arthur approaches the desk where Tony is sitting. McGee stands and walks away in order to give them space. "It is good to see you again, Tony."

"Yeah… It…" Tony speaks nervously, though he tries to hide it. "It's good to see you too, Arthur."

"Has my boy been much trouble?"

'I no trouble.' Chioke signed with his hands while still being held in Arthur's arms.

"He says he's no trouble." Gibbs translated for Arthur.

"He's always been a good boy." Arthur said. "Tony…"

"Yeah?"

"I'd like to ask for your permission…" Arthur begins to say. Tony is now thinking Arthur will ask for guardianship of Chioke so he starts to feel lightheaded. "Are you alright, Tony?"

"I'm fine." Tony replied as he slides from the desk to the chair.

"I'm wondering if I can take Chioke for the day. To spend time with him."

Chioke turns his head to look at Tony. Tony wants to say no because, but he doesn't want to deny Chioke's happiness of seeing and spending time with the man who saved him from the creek in Nigeria almost two and half years ago after being shot.

"Yeah… Yeah, sure." Tony answered. "That'll be fine."

Chioke wraps his arms around Arthur's neck.

"What is your address, Tony?" Arthur asked. "So I may drop him off later today." After Arthur saying this, a thought comes to Chioke so he leans back.

'I not have school tomorrow.' Chioke signed with his hands. He looks to Tony. 'Can stay with Arthur at night?'

"What did he say?" Arthur asked.

"He wants to know if he can stay with you tonight." Tony said, even though he's opposed to it due to the fear of Chioke possibly wanting to stay. "If it would be a hassle than…"

"It's no hassle." Arthur said. He looks at Chioke. "I'd love for you to stay at my place tonight." Chioke's smile becomes bigger with excitement. Arthur sets Chioke on the floor so he can grab his stuff from Tony's desk. Arthur looks at Tony. "I'll bring him back tomorrow afternoon."

"Yeah, sure." Tony said. "Chioke…" He tries to get his attention. Chioke looks at him.

'Can take music?'

"Yeah… You can take the music box."

Chioke is done gathering his things from Tony's desk. Gibbs' cell-phone rings so he walks away and answers it. Arthur, Tony and Chioke are left alone in the bullpen. Chioke walks over to Arthur and places his hand into Arthur's. Tony sees the big smile stretched across Chioke's face. Arthur and Chioke walk away. Before leaving the bullpen, Tony thinks of a final thing to say.

"Chioke…" Tony tries to get his attention. Chioke turns his head. "I love you." Chioke smiles at Tony and waves with his free hand. Arthur lifts Chioke into his arm and carries him away. Tony watches as Chioke is carried further and further away; in the direction of the elevator. He remains standing near McGee's desk. Tony's surroundings are completely lost as all time stops for him. Nothing, other than Chioke, matters to him at this point. They're finally on the elevator and out of Tony's sight.

Gibbs smacks Tony on the back of the head. Tony comes out of his trance.

"What was that for?" Tony wondered.

"I said grab your gear three times already." Gibbs stated.

"Oh…" Tony stands and walks to his desk in order to grab his stuff. Gibbs realizes with the return of Arthur into Chioke's life that Tony is worried about losing him.

McGee and Ziva enter into the area and grab their gear too. The four of them walk to the elevator.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The team arrives at the gate to the marine community of Cedar Grove which is located near Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Gibbs shows his badge to the security guard. The gate lifts. The car drives in. As the car moves through the community, the team looks around in all directions; at every single street they pass. Children are outside playing in the front yards of their homes. Fathers, who are meant to be outside playing with their children, are talking to local police officers instead. The police officers were called in as response to the missing child to assist NCIS by gathering information from neighbors and the community as a whole. As the car continues moving, something strikes Gibbs' eye as being odd about the community; in particular, a single street. The car stops on the side of the road.

**Flashback**

Gibbs awakes in bed. He's sweaty and panting. His wife also awakes.

"Did you have the dream again?" Shannon wondered.

"Yeah…" Gibbs said. "It never changes. I always get blown-up."

"It's a bad dream, Jethro." Shannon said as she sits up and wraps her around her husband from behind. "You're just nervous about being deployed to Iraq next month. That's all. There's nothing to worry about." She kisses him on the shoulder.

"Nothing to worry about… You do realize I'm going to war, not a bake sale."

"If I don't believe you won't come back home, Jethro, it may happen. I need to have the hope, the faith that everything will be fine. And you'll return home to us." Shannon said. "For Kelly's sake you need to believe it too."

"I just can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen."

"Come here." Shannon gently tugs on her husband to get him to lie down on the bed with her. They both lay down. Gibbs lays his head on Shannon's chest. "Listen to my heartbeat, Jethro. Don't speak… Just listen." With his head lying on his wife's chest, Gibbs closes his eyes and listens to her heartbeat. She begins to gently stroke his head. "Let the bad thoughts escape your mind… Think about me and your wonderful daughter Kelly. If you keep us in your mind and heart, we'll show you the way, even when your faith is lost. The thoughts of us will be your hope. You can get through anything, Jethro… Cause we love you." There's a brief pause of silence. "Everything will be fine, my love."

Three days later, Gibbs enters into an office on the marine base. The office is that of Colonel Morgan.

"You requested to see me, Colonel." Gibbs salutes the superior officer.

"Please sit, Jethro." Colonel Morgan said. Gibbs sits down on a chair.

"Yesterday I received another request from you to live in Cedar Grove…"

"I need…"

"Do you realize how many marine requests I receive to live in Cedar Grove, Jethro?"

"Probably a lot."

"Twenty-five percent of all marines doubt there's anything special about Cedar Grove. Five percent of all marines think Cedar Grove is cursed… Though I'm not sure why. Seventy percent of all marines request to live in Cedar Grove for two reasons. One, they think the community is good luck. Two, and this is definitely the main reason; they think God is watching out for everyone in the community." Colonel Morgan stated. "With seventy percent of all marines trying to get into Cedar Grove… This means there's a long waiting list. You can be in the marines for fifty years and never get into Cedar Grove."

"Your family founded the community. Can't you pull some strings…"

"It doesn't work like that, Jethro." Colonel Morgan said. "My family may have founded Cedar Grove in the twenties…"

"I need to be in Cedar Grove. I keep having a bad dream…"

"About being killed in action?!"

"I get blown-up."

"Each week I hear stories about marines having bad dreams and most of the time their dream proves to be false. Most of the time nothing happens to the marine in war and nothing happens to their family back home." Colonel Morgan said. "Look… I know nothing bad as ever happened to any marine who has ever lived in Cedar Grove. Maybe God is looking out for them. Maybe it's just good luck. Or maybe the place is cursed. Whatever the reason for no marine ever being killed or even severely injured in war… I believe it doesn't have anything to do with the community itself. I think the marines who have lived there and live there right now make their own luck by being smart. Their quick-thinking smarts are what keep them alive in battle. But that's just my opinion."

"Please…"

"I'm sorry, Jethro. I can't get you into Cedar Grove."

Time quickly fast forwards in this flashback.

Sometime after Shannon and Kelly's death and after what Gibbs went through with being blown-up and in a coma, Gibbs enters into the cemetery where his loved ones rest in peace. Gibbs stands in front of Shannon and Kelly's tomb stones. His eyes are watery as he places flowers down for both of them.

"I'm sorry…" Gibbs cried. He falls to his knees. "I'm sorry for doubting my faith in you. I failed you. The dream felt so real. I pretended… I made you think I believed everything would be fine when I didn't. And now you're dead. If I only believed in you than maybe you'd still be alive and I would've never been blown-up. If I was able to get us into Cedar Grove than none of this would've ever happened, even when my faith was lost. I know the belief in nothing bad ever happening to anyone who lives there in Cedar Grove… That there's something truly special about it, is superstitious. And you know I'm not a superstitious person. But for what it's worth… I'm sorry I was never able to get us into Cedar Grove."

**End flashback**

The team wonders why Gibbs stopped the car.

"Gibbs, are you alright?" Ziva asked.

"What odd thing do you notice about this place?" Gibbs asked them all. The three of them look around.

"The fact that all of these kids should be in school right now, but they aren't." Tony stated.

"Today is an unofficial marine holiday. The majority of the fathers in this community are being deployed tomorrow. So the kids stay home since they won't see each other for eighteen months. It's a tradition here." Gibbs said. "Any other guesses?"

"Elm Street is completely deserted when on all other streets you see fathers in their front yards with their children." McGee stated.

"And that's supposed to be pertinent to this investigation? Ziva wondered.

"Maybe our suspect is Freddy Krueger." Tony stated. "You know… Nightmare on Elm Street."

"Please don't start with movies." McGee said.

"Come on… It's a classic horror film." Tony said.

"DiNozzo…" Gibbs tries to get his attention.

"Yeah Boss?"

"Shut up." Gibbs said. "And to answer your question Ziva… I don't know if it's pertinent to this investigation or not. I just find a completely empty street to be odd."

The car continues moving forward. Three minutes later they finally arrive at the Willard residence. The car is parked and the team gets out of the vehicle. As they walk up the walkway toward the house, Tony stops.

Tony looks to the people at the house next door and beyond it. The street is filled with fathers and children playing in the front yard of their homes; at every single house. The children are happy while playing with their fathers. With seeing the smiles on the faces of all the children and how much fun they're having, Tony thinks about Chioke. Tony is hit by an overwhelming sadness about possibly losing the little boy who means more to him than anything in the entire world. He tries to hold his emotions in.

The team stops at the front door. Before Ziva and McGee can turn around, Gibbs gives them assignments to get them in the house before they see the expression on Tony's face. Ziva and McGee are now inside the house. Gibbs approaches Tony.

In Tony's eyes, what he sees as he watches these fathers playing in their front yards with their children is himself and Chioke. Tony is living in Gibbs' house with Jamie and Chioke until their house, the house next door to Gibbs, is ready for them. What Tony sees on this street is the happiness in the eyes of the children. These children have loving fathers and a place to call home; not an apartment, not living as house guests until having a place of their own, but living in a place they'll stay for a long time, a home. He imagines himself and Chioke playing in their front yard. Tony imagines a couple different scenes; seeing the smile on Chioke's face as they jump into a pile of leaves that was just raked, laughing while throwing snowballs at each other, the excitement expressed when letting go of a bike Chioke is on and he doesn't fall, and the happiness on Chioke's face when his father pulls into the driveway after a long day at work.

"Tony…" Gibbs tries to get his attention.

"Arthur said; has my boy been much trouble." Tony stated. "My boy…" He sniffles a bit as the emotion he feels is unable to be contained. "Arthur isn't his biological father. He found Chioke lying half-dead in a creek after being shot. Sure he took care of him for two years because the kid lost his entire family in the crossfire between two rival war lords. But that doesn't give him the right to refer to Chioke as; my boy. He never legally adopted him. He never signed any paperwork… Nothing!" There's a moment of silence. "Did you… Did you see how Chioke's face lit-up when he saw Arthur? I don't think I've ever seen him so happy. Before he left, he… He never said; I love you. He didn't even hug me. He always hugs me." Tony tries to holds his tears in. "I'm going to lose my son."

Tony walks away before Gibbs can even open his mouth to say anything. He walks to car. Gibbs is left standing in the middle of the walkway and not knowing exactly what to say to make Tony feel better.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

At NCIS Headquarters, Ducky is in Autopsy with a body on the table. Ducky is talking to the victim while performing the autopsy, as he usually does. Jamie and a physician enter into Autopsy. The body on the table is that of a victim who was murdered a couple days ago and found at the bottom of a lake.

"Hey, Ducky. I see you have fresh meat." Jamie said right after entering. The physician, a lady, is right behind her. The lady stops near the door. The lady is in shock as she looks at the dead body on the table.

"Hello my dear." Ducky greeted her back. "Would you mind handing me an evidence container?"

"Sure, Duck." Jamie walks to where the evidence containers are. Ducky looks to the physician while holding the organ he just removed. "At the end of the room I setup an area for you to conduct Ms. Gibbs' physical. You would've had the entire room and complete privacy, but as you can see, a guest arrived. The partition will suffice in making sure you don't purge by keeping the view of our most recent guest from your sight."

They both look at the lady standing near the door.

"Looks like Mt. Saint Helen's is about to erupt." Jamie stated. "Lady, if you're going to hurl, there's a sink over there." She points to the sink. The lady holds her mouth and runs to the sink. Jamie approaches the table where Ducky is working. She holds the container up and Ducky places the organ inside. Jamie puts the container down on the small table next to Ducky. "So what happened to this guy?"

"This poor fellow was apparently poisoned with a substance which disintegrated his liver before he went for a swim."

"What you put in the container was his liver?!"

"Yes… Well, it used to be." Ducky replied. "How is the interview going?" He said as he digs his hands back into the victim.

"I'm about halfway through the interview. We're taking a break because the physician lady showed up to give me a physical. And afterwards, the interview will continue."

"Ms. Gibbs…" The physician tries to get her attention while standing near the sink. From the expression on the lady's face, Jamie can tell she wants to hurry up and get the physical over with.

"Right…" Jamie said. "We'll talk later Duck."

Jamie walks away. Ducky continues with the autopsy. Jamie and the physician are now at the other end of Autopsy. They're behind the partition Ducky setup to give them privacy.

"Take your clothes off and put this hospital gown on." The physician hands her the gown. "I'll be back in a minute." She leaves Autopsy.

"Ducky…?" Jamie said loudly to get his attention.

"Yes my dear?"

"Is having to wear a hospital gown for these physicals normal?"

"This isn't the normal physical you'd receive at a regular doctor's office." Ducky said from the table where he's still performing the autopsy of the victim. "Regular doctors never do a full physical. They only do a preset standard. NCIS requires a full physical for these assessments."

Jamie now has the hospital gown on. The physician lady re-enters into Autopsy, walks to the other end and steps behind the partition where Jamie is waiting. The physical begins.

A couple minutes pass.

"Take the gown off, please." The physician requested. Jamie stands. The gown drops.

"Look at that sexy ass." Tony said as his head is popped out from behind the partition. He does a sexy growl. Jamie rolls her eyes and shakes her head; something Tony is unable to see since her back is facing his direction.

"Do you mind?!" The physician exclaimed in disgust. She walks in-between him and her patient. "Get out of here you pervert!"

"No, I don't mind. You may continue." Tony said. "Oh… And you're blocking my view. Can you please move?" He tries to peek around the physician.

"Dr. Mallard!" The physician yelled.

"It's quite alright." Ducky assured her as he's still at the autopsy table on the other side of the room. "The pervert is her husband."

The physician looks behind herself at Jamie who is halfway turned around so she can face the physician.

"I'm unfortunately married to that." Jamie points to Tony.

"Hey!" Tony protested. "What do you mean unfortunately?!"

"Please leave so I can continue Ms. Gibbs' physical." The physician stated.

Tony walks away. The physician turns back to Jamie. She takes a quick look at Jamie's body; noticing the tattoos.

"Those are some interesting tattoos you have." The physician said.

"Oh, thank you." Jamie said. "When I was eight-years-old I was in a bad car accident which killed my mother. I was barely alive. The accident left me with scars. The tattoos cover those scars."

Over at the autopsy table Tony is watching what Ducky is doing.

"Twenty bucks says Jamie threatens the physician when the creepy looking equipment thing comes out." Tony stated.

"I don't doubt she will." Ducky said with a smile.

A minute passes. Behind the partition, Jamie's facial expression changes to that of being frightened.

"If you plan on touching me with whatever the hell that is in your hand, than I'm going to shove it down your throat." Jamie threatened.

From the other side of the room Tony and Ducky chuckle. A couple seconds pass.

"I heard Arthur was here today." Ducky said. "Chioke must be excited to see him."

"Yeah, umm…" Tony is now saddened by what's bothering him.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Duck. But I have to go." Tony said. "See you later."

Tony walks away, toward the door. Ducky continues working. After leaving Autopsy, Tony steps into the elevator. The door closes. A couple seconds later, Tony slams the emergency stop switch. The elevator stops.

Tony leans against the wall of the elevator as he thinks about Chioke. Tony takes out his wallet from his back pocket. His back slides against the wall as his body moves down toward the floor. Once sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, Tony opens the wallet and pulls out a photo of him and Chioke together. After a couple minutes, the photo falls from his hand. Tony's face falls into his heads. He starts crying.

After a couple minutes, Tony flips the emergency stop switch. The elevator continues moving to the third floor. The door opens. Tony steps off the elevator, walks to his desk and sits down. McGee and Ziva watch Tony sit down, but they say nothing because they're busy working.

Gibbs finally steps off the elevator. He enters into the bullpen and walks to his desk. On Gibbs' desk is a cup of coffee and two containers. Container one has chocolate chip cookies. Container two has homemade chicken parmesan. Gibbs grabs the both containers and walks to the other side of the bullpen. Gibbs drops the container of chocolate chip cookies onto McGee's desk. He walks to Tony's desk and drops the container of chicken parmesan. Ziva observes this behavior of giving away the food she made for him.

"Are there any hits from the Amber Alert?" Gibbs wondered.

"No hits as of yet." McGee answered. "The Amber Alert is in full affect in all surrounding states. Airports, train and bus stations, subways increased their security. Road blocks have been setup as well"

"What evidence do you guys have for me?" Abby asked as she enters into the bullpen. "My lab is empty and my babies need to be active. So where's my evidence?"

"If we found any evidence we would've brought it to you when we got back." McGee said.

"You found nothing?! How can you not find one shred of evidence? There's a missing ten-year-old and all you have to go on is nothing." Abby stated. "What about the Amber Alert?"

"We're getting nothing there too." Ziva said.

"If you want to keep yourself occupied, Abs, I know Ducky has a guest in Autopsy." Tony said.

"Yay!" Abby exclaimed in excitement as she runs away to the elevator.

"Only Abby would be excited over a dead guy." Tony shakes his head. "Or a dead girl. Or a dead anything. Just as long as it's on the autopsy table. Or on the side of a road." He said. "Did you see the close-up pictures she took of a dead deer on the side of the road over the weekend?"

"That's gross to even think about, Tony. But she did say its position looked artistic… In a completely gross and creepy way." McGee said. He decides to quickly get back on topic. "What I don't understand is how a kid vanishes without a trace."

"It's actually not the first time." Ziva stated.

"What do you mean?" McGee wondered.

"I've been doing research on Cedar Grove…" Ziva begins to say.

"Every twenty years a kid mysteriously disappears from Cedar Grove." Gibbs stated. "The community was founded in the early twenties. In 1927 the first child disappeared, a teen. In 1947, the second disappeared. The third disappeared in 1987. And now a fourth disappeared… 2007."

"Serial killer?" Tony wondered.

"From 1927 to 2007 is an eighty year time-frame, Tony." McGee said. "If it's the same serial killer, than he must be very healthy and versatile for his old age."

"Could be a protégé or copycat, Probie." Tony said.

"The first three that went missing were in their teens." Gibbs stated. "They were rebellious and ran away from home a couple times. Since there was no evidence in those cases to suggest otherwise, they were ruled as; runaways. Those are the only bad things which have ever happened to families of Cedar Grove. Since they're labeled as runaways, the majority of marines don't know about it. They only hear the good things about the community." He added to the conversation. "Cedar Grove is known by all marines. The waiting list to get into Cedar Grove is very long. The reason so many marines want to get in, is because it holds a record. No marine in the history of Cedar Grove was ever killed in combat… Not even severely injured. The community is infamous for this. A marine can be in the most hellish combat situation during a war and still walk out alive, with hardly any injuries at all. It's not just the marine who remains safe, but also their family back home." He pauses for a couple seconds. "There was a study on the psychological affects of war on marine families living in Cedar Grove compared to everywhere else. The evaluation proved to be, in their words, remarkable. They also studied the marines. No marine has ever suffered post-traumatic stress disorder or any type of disorder. The marine comes back home and shows absolutely no signs of being psychologically traumatized or changed in any way by what they've seen and been through. It's like they never left. Seventy percent of all marines request to live in Cedar Grove for two reasons. One, they think the community is good luck. Two, they think God is watching out for everyone in the community. Twenty-five percent of all marines doubt there's anything special about Cedar Grove. And five percent of all marines think Cedar Grove is cursed."

"You sure do know a lot about Cedar Grove, Boss." Tony said.

"Why do five percent of all marines think Cedar Grove is cursed?" Ziva wondered. "No marine has ever died in combat in its entire history. That doesn't institute a curse. Maybe it is just good luck."

"Or God is watching out for them." McGee added.

"I highly doubt God would protect every single person in one marine community and leave the rest of marines open to whatever comes their way." Tony said. "Either that or God is picking favorites." He finally opens the container of chicken parmesan. Gibbs stands up from his desk.

"Maybe the people in Cedar Grove are more religious." McGee said in response. "Which do you think, Boss? Good luck, God watching over them or curse?"

"We have a missing ten-year-old who mysteriously disappeared. Not a teen. It could be a runaway but my gut tells me otherwise." Gibbs said. He pauses for a couple seconds as a thought crosses his mind. "Something changed…" He walks away and out of the bullpen. The others are left wondering what Gibbs meant.

"Do either of you have any idea what Gibbs meant by; something changed?" Ziva asked.

"Wait… He said something?" Tony asked while chewing on a piece of chicken parmesan.

"Go back to concentrating on your food, Tony." Ziva said. "We don't want you to hurt yourself by thinking about more than one thing at a time."

Tony continues eating the chicken parmesan as Ziva and McGee work. Gibbs goes home to work on the boat so he can think.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Jamie enters into the room where her interviewing is being conducted. The physical is completed. There's a man, Special Agent Adam Harris, sitting on a chair in the room waiting for Jamie to sit down. Agent Harris is reviewing the physicians report. Jamie finally sits down on the chair across from Agent Harris.

"I've been reviewing the physician's report and the forms faxed to us by your regular doctors." Agent Harris stated. "I see the last time you went to your eye doctor was more than six months ago."

"I know I should go every three months, but I've been busy." Jamie said. "After testing my vision, the physician told me I'm losing sight in my left eye. And yeah, I've noticed. My eye doctor said that if my vision ever decreased from being able to see five feet in front of me, that I'd eventually go blind. It's happening."

"The eye doctor estimates your left eye will be completely blind within two years." Agent Harris stated. "How does that make you feel?"

"I knew it would happen eventually. Losing the ability of being able to see with my left eye honestly doesn't concern me at all. Besides, I have almost perfect vision in my right eye anyway. I don't need two eyes in order to live. I can manage just fine without it."

"The other thing I want to talk to you about is what happened in the bank a couple months ago." Agent Harris said. Jamie looks down slightly as the subject of what happened in the bank is still a sore topic for her. "You were pregnant at the time. In protecting your adopted son…" He looks at his paper to find the name of the boy.

"His name is Chioke."

"Yes, thank you." Agent Harris said. "In protecting your adopted son Chioke, you received a violent blow to the abdomen and weren't able to seek medical attention due to being stuck inside the bank for hours. Because of the blow you received, you miscarried."

"And my uterine wall is still healing so my husband and I still can't try again until it's fully healed… Yeah, yeah." Jamie hurried the subject along.

"I'm sure it must be hard for you, Ms. Gibbs."

"What the hell do you know about it?!" Jamie shouted. "I was pregnant. If it wasn't for that fuckin asshole Shawn Benson and his peckershit attitude, then I'd still be pregnant."

"Have you talked to anybody about what happened? It may help."

"I don't need to talk about it! I lost my baby!" Jamie exclaimed. "Am I angry about it… Yes. Do I wish Shawn Benson to die… Yes. Do I blame Chioke for the loss my baby because he wouldn't lie on the floor like the asshole said to do… No, I don't blame Chioke for what happened." She wipes a tear from her eye. "If you want a child of your own, than I highly suggest dropping this topic before I beat your manhood to death with a hot fire poker."

"I can give you the number of a woman who can help."

"I told you I don't need to talk about it." Jamie said in a slightly angered tone of voice.

"I can tell there's a lot of hostility…"

"If you want to see hostility just wait until I have the fire poker and I'm beating the living shit out of you!"

"I read all the statements from the bank hostages. You're the only person who refused to give a statement to the FBI. And from what the other statements say, I think I know why."

"Don't…" Jamie said with tears in her eyes. "Just drop it. I'm warning you."

"You blame yourself Ms. Gibbs." Agent Harris stated. He watches her wipe a couple tears from her eyes and try to hold the rest in. "The statements say, at several separate occasions, you were defiant when faced with Shawn Benson. You feel guilty that your defiance cost the life of your unborn child."

"That's not true." Jamie whimpered.

"I know it's hard to not blame yourself for something like this, Ms. Gibbs."

"I don't blame myself! I blame Shawn Benson." Jamie stated in an angry tone of voice. "The loss of my baby is entirely his fault!"

"This is obviously a sensitive subject and I apologize for pushing it." Agent Harris said. "Let's take a fifteen minute break. When we return, we'll continue by talking about your personal relationships."

"Alright."

Jamie stands and walks away as Special Agent Harris writes some notes into his notebook.

Meanwhile, Gibbs is in the basement of his house working on the boat. Ziva enters into the house by means of the backdoor. She walks inside and immediately heads to the kitchen. Once in the kitchen, she opens the refrigerator and places the food she brought inside. After closing the refrigerator, Ziva walks to the basement door.

Gibbs looks up as Ziva stands in the threshold of the doorway. He shakes his head and goes back to work on the boat. Ziva walks down the stairs. She approaches Gibbs.

"You do realize Tony thinks we're having sex." Gibbs stated.

"Tony's an idiot." Ziva said in response. "Can I help?"

"Sandpaper is over there." Gibbs points in the direction. Ziva walks to the table and grabs a piece of sandpaper. She returns to the boat. "Sand this area." He shows her where to work. "Go with the grain."

The two of them work on the boat in silence for a couple minutes.

"Gibbs, I…" Ziva begins to say.

"You have to stop this. Stop giving me coffee. Stop giving me food." Gibbs stated. "Ever since we got back from North Korea you've been kissing my ass. And I want it to stop."

"I need to you to tell me if you trust me and if you still accept me as part of this team." Ziva said. "Do you?"

"I'm not going to stand here and give you assurance on a question you already know the answer to." Gibbs answered. "I need you to stop kissing my ass and do your damn job." He said. "Sometimes the answers we seek are so simple we don't fully recognize them, especially when we doubt ourselves. You need to look inside yourself for the answers you seek, Ziva. It's not me you need to hear the answers from… It's you." He continues working on the boat.

There's a moment of silence as Ziva looks down; thinking about what Gibbs just said. For Ziva, she is searching for an answer to whether or not Gibbs still trusts her. With revealing her secret to Gibbs over a month ago, she feels weird around him like she doesn't fully belong anymore and debating whether or not she remain with NCIS. She recalls Gibbs taking the time to hear her side of the story about the incident, how he understood and decided to not arrest her. Ziva is confused as to how this action wasn't a clear indicator for her. She feels like she needs to actually hear it from him, but now, after what he said, maybe there are things which don't need to be said to be understood. But Ziva still can't help the fact of feeling there's something missing, that there's still a void, an empty space which needs to be filled.

Gibbs smacks Ziva on the back of the head.

"What was that for?!" Ziva exclaimed.

"You're not working." Gibbs replied.

Gibbs goes back to work on the boat. Ziva smiles as the smack to the back of the head filled the void, the empty space she's been feeling. Ziva officially needs no more from Gibbs. She continues sanding the boat. The two of them work alongside each other.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Around 22:00 at night, Gibbs walks up the stairs to the second floor of his house. Once on the second floor, he walks in the direction of the bathroom. He approaches the bathroom door and reaches for the handle. The knob won't budge. The door is locked from the inside. Gibbs sighs. He pounds on the door.

"Get your ass out of the bathroom, DiNozzo!" Gibbs shouted.

"Use yours." Tony yelled from inside the bathroom.

"You know I can't because I still have to fix the leak."

"Then use the toilet downstairs."

"Jamie's using it."

"Then give me a minute."

"I can't even go to the bathroom in my own house when I need to." Gibbs muttered softly to himself.

Gibbs stands outside the bathroom door waiting for a minute to pass so he can finally get in. He keeps an ear out to hear if Jamie gets out before Tony does; the bathroom downstairs is a half bath, meaning it only has a toilet and sink. A minute passes. The bathroom door opens.

"It's all yours." Tony said as he walks away. Gibbs moves into the threshold of the bathroom doorway. He immediately gags.

"Oh geez…" Gibbs said while holding his nose. He walks away from the door.

"What is it?" Tony asked from the top of the stairs.

"I didn't know dead skunk was on your menu of things to eat, DiNozzo."

"You can always go outside." Tony stated. Gibbs glares at him. "Or not…"

"I'll wait until Jamie is done in the bathroom downstairs."

Gibbs leans against the wall opposite the bathroom. Tony finally walks down the stairs. Gibbs is alone on the second floor.

"I hate sharing my house." Gibbs sighed. He remains leaning against the wall, hoping his neighbor will hurry up and move out of his house so Tony and Jamie can finally move in. Gibbs likes to not be alone, ever since his daughter came back into his life. But he isn't used to three extra people living in his home and he wants them out. The house is cramped with extra belongings which couldn't fit into the storage Tony is renting. Gibbs is starting to regret allowing them to stay at his place. As much as he loves them, he wants them out.

Meanwhile, in Arthur's temporary apartment somewhere in the D.C. area, he's putting Chioke to bed. Arthur only has a one bedroom apartment. The two of them are in the bedroom. Arthur is giving the bed to Chioke. Arthur will be sleeping on the couch in the family room. Chioke climbs onto the bed and crawls toward the top. Once lying on the bed, Arthur pulls the covers up.

"I hope you had fun today, Chioke." Arthur said as he begins to tuck him in..

'I have fun. It nice you come visit.' Chioke signed with his hands.

"Here's your pad and pen." Arthur hands Chioke the pad and pen because he doesn't understand sign language, so communicating by having Chioke write down what he says makes it easy. Chioke sits up, writes on the pad and shows Arthur. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. I had fun too." He said. "I know in the two years you were with me I didn't have much time to spend with you because of how busy I was. I should've taken more time from my busy life to really be there for you." Chioke shows him the pad again. Arthur reads it. "No, it's not okay, Chioke. After your wound healed, I wasn't really there for you. You were four years old and really had no one. Even though I was there, it's like I wasn't. It wasn't fair to you. You were young… You still are. I tried my best but there were things I need to do for my fellow countrymen, our countrymen. I had no choice." Chioke shows him the pad. Arthur reads it and smiles. "Well… I'm here for you now." He said with a smile. "You need to rest." Arthur tucks Chioke in and kisses him on the forehead. Arthur stands. He walks to the door and turns the light off. Chioke closes his eyes and within minutes, falls asleep.

Somewhere in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, two navy petty officers are out camping when they shouldn't be. The men have a dog with them. From inside the tent where the guys are sleeping, they both awake after hearing a loud noise outside. John and James exit the tent with flashlights in hand.

"You just had to bring the damn dog." James said. "Look at the mess that dog made." He starts cleaning up some of the things which were knocked over.

"Scraps come here." John commanded. He sees the leash still tied to a tree. "Come here Scraps!" He still gets no response from the dog. The other end of the leash is behind a large rock. John walks to the leash tied to the tree and tugs at it. There's no force at all. He finally sees the end of the leash coming around the rock. "Ah, shit."

"What's up?"

"Scraps got loose."

"Dammit." James sighed. "I told you not to bring that dog."

"Dude, you have to help find Scraps."

"Why? What's the point?"

"Because he's my sister's dog and you're her boyfriend."

"If I didn't have feelings for your sister I'd say screw you and go back to bed."

The two of them get some warmer clothes on and grab extra flashlights. They walk out into the woods.

"Scraps!" John yelled.

"Scraps! If you come here I'll let you sniff my crotch!" James shouted.

"Dude, you're sick."

"What?! That damn dog always tries to sniff my crotch for some reason."

"Scraps!"

For one hour the guys search the woods for the dog. Hope in finding the dog seems to be rather slim since they don't hear anything other than normal night activity in the forest.

"The dog is gone, dude." James said.

"No wait… I think I hear something." John said. In the distance, he hears Scraps barking. "That way!" He points in the direction. After ten minutes of walking in the direction John heard the barking, they see the dog running to them. "Scraps come here boy."

"Dude… What the hell's in his mouth?" James shines the light on Scraps as the dog continues running toward them.

"I don't know. It looks like a stick or something."

A couple seconds pass.

"That's no stick." James said as the dog approaches.

The dog sits in front of them. The object drops from Scraps' mouth. The guys are speechless and in shock as they look at what Scraps found. On the ground in front of them is a human bone; an arm bone.

"Dude…" James said.

"Yeah?" John wondered. Both of them are still in shock as they're still looking down at the bone.

"Your sister's dog sucks."

John and Scraps remain in the vicinity of the bone while James hikes to an area where he can actually make a phone-call in order to contact NCIS.


	6. Chapter 6

**Tuesday**

**Chapter 6**

At the start of work, Tony is sitting at his desk eating a couple muffins; muffins which Ziva left in Gibbs' refrigerator the previous day, before she was told to stop kissing his ass. McGee is at his desk doing some work and Ziva is nowhere to be seen. McGee throws a crumbled up piece of paper at Tony.

"Do you have a death wish, Probie?" Tony wondered.

"No. But apparently you have a hearing problem because I've been trying to get your attention for a while now." McGee said. "Living Gibbs isn't working out?"

"Gibbs loves having me at his place."

A couple seconds pass and Gibbs enters into the bullpen.

"Oh yeah…I absolutely love it." Gibbs said in a sarcastic tone of voice. "I enjoy the late night Magnum P.I. when I'm trying to sleep, stinking up my bathroom, having a three hundred gallon lobster tank in my living room, your dirty gym clothes in a bag in the hallway, drinking from the milk and orange juice containers, leaving food in the refrigerator with no lid, not cleaning up after yourself like leaving dishes in the sink overnight so whatever was on them hardens, I can hear you snore from down the hall, your movie memorabilia is crowding my dinning room, and, oh yeah… Stealing my breakfast." He snatches the rest of the muffins off Tony's desk. Tony looks away as if he did nothing wrong. Gibbs walks to his desk.

"How does Jamie even allow you to get away with doing things like that?" McGee asked.

"I get yelled at all the time." Tony grins.

"And, DiNozzo…" Gibbs tries to get his attention. Tony looks at Gibbs. "If you value your life, I'd suggest you stop trying to sneak in some fun with my daughter."

"Ha!" Tony laughed. "You laid out the rules before we moved in. I'd never break…" He notices Gibbs glaring at him. "Okay, I'll stop trying to sleep with my wife."

"Wait…" McGee is confused. "How is that possible when you and Jamie sleep in the same bed?"

"We… Don't actually sleep in the same bed." Tony replied. "Well, not in Gibbs' house."

"He sleeps in the other bedroom with Chioke." Gibbs stated. At the mention of Chioke, Tony suddenly becomes silent and looks down in sorrow.

"So Tony is like a horny boyfriend trying to get his freak on by sneaking in through the window to the girlfriend's bedroom while the parents are sleeping." McGee stated. "It's funny. The two of you are like horny teenagers." He said. "Haha! You don't get to sleep with your wife. Oh man, I'm never going to let you live this one down." He chuckled. McGee notices Gibbs glaring at him. "I'll shut now, Boss."

Ziva enters into the bullpen, goes to her desk and sits down. A minute later, a familiar person steps off the elevator. Gibbs' phone rings. He answers it.

"Well I'll be…" Tony said as he recognizes the person walking in his direction. He sits back in his chair.

"How's it going, Kid?" Ernie asked as he finally enters into the bullpen.

"Mr. Yost, what brings you this way?" Tony wondered.

"Your boss asked me to come in." Ernie glances toward Ziva's desk. He looks back to Tony. "Where's Ms. Todd?"

"She's dead, Mr. Yost." Tony reluctantly said.

"That's a shame." Ernie said. He pauses for a couple seconds as he remembers her. "She was a good dancer."

After a minute, Gibbs closes his phone and stands up.

"Grab your gear." Gibbs stated. They all start grabbing their gear. "Ziva… You stay here in case we get any hits with the Amber Alert." He starts walking in the direction of the elevator. He reaches the area between Ziva and Tony's desk.

"Mr. Yost…" Gibbs tries to get his attention. Mr. Yost looks to him. "How would you like to take a walk in a national park?"

"Sure… I have nothing better to do." Ernie said. "I'm retired, you know. My old legs can use the exercise, I guess."

"So can mine." Gibbs agreed.

Gibbs and Mr. Yost continue walking toward the elevator. Tony and McGee follow.

"What do we got Boss?" McGee asked.

"Ducky thinks he has something which pertains to our case." Gibbs answered.

The four of them wait at the elevator for the door to open. The door finally opens. As the four of them are getting onto the elevator, Jamie is stepping out. Gibbs gently grabs Jamie by the arm.

"We need your assistance." Gibbs said as he pulls Jamie back into the elevator.

The five of them leave NCIS Headquarters and head to Shenandoah National Park where Ducky is waiting.

The team arrives at the park. The car is parked as close to the crime scene as they can possibly be. They walk into the woods; following the red tags sticking out of the ground like little flags. After a bit hike, they enter into a clearing in the forest where Ducky, the two petty officers and a dog are sitting. Jamie and Mr. Yost are trailing far behind; Gibbs doesn't expect them to catch-up. Gibbs told Jamie to stay with Mr. Yost until he returns.

"Where's the body?" McGee wondered.

"Right here." Ducky looks down at the bone. "I estimate this bone to be twenty years old; from 1987. With the case your working, I know three people have gone missing. One of them just happened to be in 1987. My gut tells me this bone belongs to your so-called runaway."

"Where's the rest of the body, Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"The team the Director assigned to the case is searching for a burial site at the moment. State police are assisting in the search."

"If that bone doesn't belong to the missing teen of Cedar Grove from 1987, then our time would've been wasted." Tony stated.

"Yes it would be." Ducky said. "But I have a feeling about this bone."

"Developing gut feelings, eh Duck." Gibbs said.

"It's only a matter of time until you rub off on coworkers, Jethro."

Gibbs motions for the two petty officers to come over to where they are. The petty officers approach. The dog follows.

"Talk to me fellas." Gibbs stated.

"My buddy is a park ranger. He told us of a very secluded area which is excellent for camping and rangers don't bother checking." John said. "We parked the car and hiked in. It was a two hour hike to the area we wanted to be."

Scraps the dog walk over to Tony, sits near him and looks up at him. Tony tries to ignore the dog as it whimpers for attention.

"At about 22:30 last night, the dog ran away." James said. "I told John not to bring the stupid mutt."

"We searched for the dog… His name is Scraps, by the way." John continued talking. "After an hour of searching, Scraps found us. What he brought with him was that bone." He points to the bone.

"We were an hour away from our campsite." James stated. "I had no idea how to get to the car from where we were. So I hiked an hour, in the dark, to our campsite. From there, I hiked two hours to the car in order to use my cell-phone to call you guys. Of course we left our cell-phones in the car since there's no reception here." He added. "We also didn't expect that damn dog to get lose and dig-up a human bone somewhere."

"A dog! That's it!" Tony exclaimed as an idea pops into his head. Everyone looks at him and wonders. "I'll get him a dog! Kids love dogs." His idea is to buy a dog for Chioke in the hopes he won't leave to go live with Arthur.

"You can have this dog." James said as he points to Scraps.

"You can't give my sister's dog away." John said.

"We can say he ran away."

"I'm not going to lie to my sister."

"Both of you shut up." Gibbs stated. "Is there anything else?"

"When the first NCIS team arrived, they took our statements and started processing the scenes; the area where Scraps brought us the bone and our campsite for some reason. State police joined to assist in the search for a burial site." John said. "We were finally released but since Dr. Mallard said this case may be connected to yours, he requested us to stay a little longer."

"The trail to the campsite is marked by the yellow tags in the ground. The trail to the area where the dog brought us the bone is marked by blue tags." James stated. "Whichever scene you want to see, just follow the tags."

"That'll be all." Gibbs said. "You can go."

The three of them leave. John, James and Scraps walk away from the area; they follow the red tags in order to get out of the Shenandoah National Park.

A couple minutes after the petty officers leaving, Gibbs follows the red tags to where Jamie and Mr. Yost are. He approaches them. Mr. Yost is sitting on the rock.

"Jamie…" Gibbs tries to get her attention. She looks to him. "I have an assignment for you. I want you to catch-up with the team. You're in charge. Whatever happens or whatever is found, you're in charge."

"Okay." Jamie agreed to being left in charge of the investigation. Gibbs kisses her on the forehead. Jamie walks away in the direction of the team; following the red tags.

"Mr. Yost…" Gibbs tries to get his attention as he approaches him.

"I'm not as young as I used to be." Ernie said while still sitting on the rock. Gibbs sits on a rock nearby.

"You lived in Cedar Grove before being deployed to fight in WW2. In 1946 you returned to Cedar Grove and lived there until 1960…"

"Is this why you asked me to come?"

"You were in Cedar Grove in 1947 when a teenager went missing." Gibbs said.

"The teen ran away if I recall correctly." Ernie said. "Well… That's what they said."

"It's labeled as a runaway, yes. But I need to know everything you can recall about Cedar Grove during the time you lived there… Especially about the year 1947 and the missing teen. I need to know everything."

There's a moment of silence as Mr. Yost recalls all he can about Cedar Grove. His mouth finally opens. Discussion about Cedar Grove commences; with Ernie doing most of the talking.

A call comes over the walkie talkie. Another couple of bones have been found. The state police secure the area and wait for NCIS to show-up. Jamie and the others hike to the site. After a while, they arrive at the burial site. Since Gibbs put Jamie in charge, she starts giving out assignments to Tony and McGee. NCIS begins to process the crime-scene. Ducky examines the newly discovered, unearthed remains. The team processes the surrounding area of the unearthed bones so they can unbury the bodies to allow Ducky to work before they search the surrounding radius of one hundred meters for any possible clues.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The team is back at NCIS Headquarters. Mr. Yost has already given Gibbs as much information he can recall about Cedar Grove as he possibly can. Mr. Yost has agreed to stick around in case he recalls anything else about when he lived in Cedar Grove. Mr. Yost is sitting on a chair near Gibbs' desk. The team is on the third floor, in the bullpen discussing the case. The only member not there is Tony as he's nowhere to be found at the moment.

"Ducky confirms the remains that were found belong to the three teenagers from 1927, 1947 and 1987." Ziva stated. "The teens were never runaways. This could be a cover-up."

"The agents who worked the cases in all three of those years were different every time." McGee said. "It's highly unlikely three different teams with no agent in common would label the missing as runaways."

"They could've been paid-off." Ernie contributed.

"Mr. Yost is right." Gibbs said. "There's always a possibility they were paid to keep quiet. McGee…"

"I'm pulling up the files on all the agents as we speak." McGee knew what Gibbs was going to ask of him.

"If someone is covering up these crimes, they live on Elm Street." Gibbs stated. "Ziva…"

"Way ahead of you." Ziva said as she also knew what Gibbs was going to ask of her.

"I remember my first job." Ernie sits there recalling the job. "I worked at a diner. My coworkers were the laziest group of slackers I ever worked with." He said. He looks to Gibbs. "It must be nice to work with people who aren't lazy."

"They have their moments." Gibbs said. "Besides, a good smack on the head always wakes them up." He added. Gibbs stands up. "Speaking of smacks on the head, where the hell is DiNozzo?!"

"No clue." Ziva said.

"I don't know." McGee said. "Oh wait… He just stepped off the elevator."

Gibbs looks at Tony who is now walking to the bullpen. He enters into the bullpen. Tony has a huge smile on his face. Everyone stops what they're doing and stares at him.

"What?" Tony wondered.

"You left work in order to buy a dog." Gibbs said in a slightly irritated tone of voice.

"Technically it's a puppy." Tony stated. The puppy walks around as far as it can from near Tony's desk because of the leash. "It's not mine. Technically it is mine. But it's not. It's for Chioke."

"That dog isn't staying in my house, DiNozzo." Gibbs stated.

The elevator door opens. Tony carries the puppy behind his desk. Jamie and Chioke step off the elevator. Jamie met Arthur down in the lobby and took Chioke from there. With seeing Tony at his desk, a smile stretches across Chioke's face. They're almost to Tony's desk.

"I have a present for you." Tony said. He waits until the two of them are close to his desk. He lifts the puppy from behind the desk in order to show it. Chioke's smile drops. His heart-rate increases and breathing becomes heavier. He clutches Jamie's hand. An expression of being scared is forced upon his face at the sight of the puppy. He's frightened by the puppy and runs away. Chioke runs out of the bullpen, toward the elevator which he sees is closed, and then finally runs across the front of the most wanted wall and down the hallway. Tony is confused. "What the hell?!"

"He's afraid of dogs, Tony." Jamie said.

"He watches dogs on TV all the time."

"Real life dogs scare him." Jamie walks away in order to go find Chioke. Tony, who now feels like a complete idiot, sits down in his chair. He places the puppy on the floor and starts banging his head on the desk.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…" Tony said while banging his head on the desk. The others watch as Tony continues banging his head. "Stupid, stupid…"

"DiNozzo…" Gibbs tries to get his attention. He gets no response. Tony keeps banging his head on the desk. Gibbs stands and walks over to Tony's desk. He grabs Tony by the ear.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Tony cried.

Gibbs drags Tony to the elevator. He pounds on the button and the door opens. The two of them get onto the elevator. The elevator door closes. A couple seconds later, Gibbs slams the emergency stop switch.

"I know you're worried about losing Chioke…" Gibbs begins to say.

"How can I not be?!" Tony exclaimed.

"Yesterday I didn't get the chance to say anything, but you're being an idiot."

"Great way to cheer me up, Gibbs."

"You're not going to lose him, Tony." Gibbs said. "Chioke loves you."

"I'm sure he won't forget about being kidnapped, sold into slavery, being put in a cage, hit two times with a cane and burned with a cigar over a month ago. Than of course I'm sure he hasn't forgotten about being trapped in a bank months before that."

Gibbs smacks Tony on the back of the head.

"Yes, some bad things have happened. But with each of those situations, you showed him how much you love him." Gibbs stated. "Look at everything you've done for him since you adopted him. Chioke sees it, knows it, remembers it and loves you for it. There's a lot of good which counteracts the bad." He continued. "He used to have nightmares about what happened to his family… You helped him get through it. He used to be afraid of water… You helped him to not be afraid and to enjoy water. He's unable to speak… When he started to learn sign language, in order to be able to communicate with him, you learned it too. When the bank incident happened and he was scared, you were there for him. When he was kidnapped and trapped in North Korea, you would've stopped at nothing to get him back. You're always there when he needs you. There's not one time I can think of when you're not what he needs… What he loves." Gibbs added as he tries to assure Tony that he won't lose Chioke. "You're Chioke's father. He loves you and will continue to do so. And he will stay with you, Tony."

"I can't help having the thought of losing him." Tony said sadly.

"Chioke was with Arthur for two years. It's only natural for you to feel threatened by him. But Chioke loves you too much to leave you. You do everything you can to make him happy. You're there for him when he needs you most. It's your love which makes him a very happy child." Gibbs said. There's a brief moment of silence. "He's your son, Tony. And you're his father. You're a terrific father to him."

"Oh yeah, I'm so great I get him a puppy when he's afraid of dogs."

"Parents make mistakes all the time. There's no such thing as a perfect parent." Gibbs said. "Everything Chioke needs he finds in you. It's you who is perfect for him and he knows it. You're an excellent father whether you see it or not. You're not going to lose Chioke. He loves you, Tony."

Tony feels a little bit better after this conversation, but still feels there's a chance he might lose Chioke. For Tony, the thought of possibly losing Chioke due to feeling threatened by Arthur is stronger than anything Gibbs can ever say. So Tony remains in doubt.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Tony, Jamie and Chioke leave NCIS Headquarters in order to bring the puppy back to the pet shop. Due to being scared of dogs, Jamie and Chioke are in a separate car; following Tony to the pet shop. The pet shop is large and carries all sorts of animals; mainstream animals and exotic.

The cars enter into the parking lot of the shopping area where the pet shop is. The cars are parked; not next to each other. Tony, along with the puppy walk toward the pet shop as Jamie waits with Chioke by the car. Chioke's eyes are fixated on the puppy Tony is carrying. Once Tony opens the door to the pet shop and walks inside, Jamie takes Chioke's hand so the two of them can walk to the pet shop too. Jamie and Chioke walk slowly toward the pet shop to give Tony enough time to get them to take the puppy back.

Jamie and Chioke enter into the pet shop. Chioke is immediately becomes curious as he's never been in a pet shop before. Tony is at the counter getting a refund for the puppy. The puppy has already been taken in the back. The clerk is having trouble with the register and calls a manager to help her. As the register problem is getting resolved, Tony watches Chioke as he's looking around at everything. A smile stretches across Tony's face with seeing the curiosity of little Chioke who is picking through everything he sees. Jamie and Chioke make their way toward an area with tanks of all sorts of animals; reptiles, rodents, amphibians, arthropods, arachnids and other small mammals.

After two minutes, Tony finally steps away from the counter as he got the refund. He approaches Jamie and Chioke who are still in the area with tons of tanks. Tony sees the excitement on Chioke's face as he looks at the animals.

"Chioke…" Tony tries to get his attention. Chioke looks at him. "You can choose any animal you want." Chioke's face lights-up with happiness.

"You don't have to buy his love, you know." Jamie said softly in Tony's ear.

Chioke walks to a large tank of something which caught his eye.

'I want.' Chioke signed with his hands. He points to what's inside the tank. Tony and Jamie walk over to see. 'Can have both?' Chioke wondered as he looks up at his father.

"Sure, you can have both of them." Tony said as he just can't resist the innocence in Chioke's eyes. Chioke jumps up and down in excitement. Tony cringes at his choice of pets. After a couple seconds Chioke stops and tries to pull the tank from the table. "Hold on…" Tony stops Chioke from pulling the tank. "We don't take this tank. This tank is to display the pets. All of these tanks are to display the pets so we can see them." Tony points to all the other tanks.

'But you say I can have.' Chioke signed with a sad face.

"I'm going to buy them for you. We just can't take this tank." Tony said. "We need to buy our own tank and stuff to put inside of it."

"I'll go to front and let the clerk know what we want." Jamie stated. She walks away.

'Can make tank look like theirs?' Chioke signed as he looks at Tony. He points to the tank.

"We'll make our tank look even better." Tony takes Chioke's hand. "Come on… Let's go find a tank and some good stuff to make your new friends happy." The two of them walk away. As they walk away, Chioke keeps looking back at the tank which contains his new pets.

After forty-five minutes and almost five hundred dollars later, they leave the pet shop with everything they need for Chioke's new pets. As they walk to the cars, Chioke proudly holds the box which contains his new pets. The tank and accessories are put into Jamie's car. She leaves to go to her father's house. Tony and Chioke get into his car. For the entire car ride back to Gibbs' house, Chioke has the box top open and is looking inside at his new pets. Tony is happy because Chioke has a huge smile on his face.

They arrive at Gibbs' house. Jamie is already inside setting up the tank. Tony and Chioke get out of the car; they walk into the house.

"Come here, Chioke. Help me finish setting this up for your new pets." Jamie said as Chioke enters into the living room with the box. The tank for the new pets is being setup in the living room; near the tank which contains Simba, Chioke's pet lobster. He gently places the closed box onto the coffee table. Tony watches proudly as Chioke helps Jamie setup the tank for his new pets. He wonders how Gibbs will react when he finds out. Tony chuckles at the thought of what Gibbs might say.

Tony's cell-phone rings. His first thought is how Gibbs can possibly know about the new pets in his house. Tony answers the phone. After hearing what Gibbs says, he closes the phone.

"I have to go. We finally have a break in the case." Tony stated. "I'll see you later." He walks away.

"See you." Jamie said.

Tony leaves Chioke's sight as he's now being hidden from view behind a wall. As Tony approaches the front door, he feels little arms wrap around his waist. He looks down to see Chioke giving him a hug. At this moment, Tony is extremely happy and doesn't want to leave. After a minute, Chioke backs away. Tony kneels in order to be face to face with him.

"Enjoy your new pets." Tony said with a smile.

'Love you.' Chioke signed.

"I love you too."

Tony leans forward and kisses Chioke on the forehead. After receiving the kiss, Chioke wraps his arms around Tony's neck to give him another hug. Though Tony's still unsure as to whether or not he'll lose Chioke to Arthur, he tries to cherish this exact moment.

A minute passes. Chioke's arms finally unwrap from around Tony's neck. Tony stands up and walks out the door. Chioke stands in the threshold of the doorway and watches his father as he leaves the premises.

For Chioke, he's sad to see Tony leave; he always is. But he always looks forward to his father returning home. He recalls the conversation he had with Arthur earlier in the day; him writing on his notepad and Arthur speaking. Chioke communicated to Arthur everything about his life with Tony as best to his ability; the good and the bad. He recalls what Arthur said. What Arthur told him about family is true. Tony is his family; now and forever. It's Tony's love which makes him strong; strong enough to overcome any obstacle, no matter how bad it is. Tony is there for him. Tony makes him happy. Tony loves him. Tony is his father. An overwhelming feeling of happiness strikes Chioke.

As the car is leaving the driveway, Chioke runs outside. He runs down the front lawn. The car is now driving down the street and Chioke is standing near the mailbox. Jamie is at the front door keeping on eye on him; she knows Chioke would never run out into the street.

'Bye daddy.' Chioke signed. He waves his hand in the hopes Tony sees him in the mirror.

As the car moves further and further down the street, Tony begins to feel slightly depressed. He feels Chioke was showing him so much love out of guilt; the guilt of leaving him to go with Arthur but has yet to let him know. Tony tries to shake the thought from his head but it becomes too overwhelming for him to bear. The tires sheik as he stomps on the brakes. The car turns around and speeds back to Gibbs' house.

Tony barges into the house; startling Jamie and Chioke as they continue to setup the tank for the new pets. With tears in his eyes, Tony rushes toward Chioke and wraps his arms around him.

"Tony, are you alright?" Jamie asked.

"Jamie, can you give us a minute." Tony whimpered.

"Sure."

Jamie leaves the room. Tony backs away from Chioke. Tears are rolling down Tony's cheeks.

'Why cry?' Chioke signed with his hand out of concern.

"I don't want you to leave me." Tony said. "Please don't leave me, Chioke."

'Not want leave.'

"After all the bad stuff that happened, I thought you wanted to go live with Arthur."

Chioke shakes his head in disagreement.

'Want stay with you.' Chioke signed. Tony sighs in relief.

"Why? Why do you want to stay with me?" Tony wondered.

Chioke looks down and remains silent for a couple seconds.

"Chioke..." Tony tries to get his attention. Chioke looks up at him. "When we were on the ship off the coast of Nigeria, you were given the choice of staying with Arthur or going home with me. Why did you choose me?"

'When in village you play ball with me.' Chioke signed.

"You chose me because of a ball?"

Chioke nods his head.

"All I did was roll a ball back and forth with you for about two minutes." Tony said.

'Real daddy play ball with me. We roll ball to each other. He take time to play with me. You take time to play with me. When play ball... You remind me of daddy.' Chioke signed as a tear rolls down his cheek. 'Arthur good. He friend. He take care of me two years. He take care of all others. He busy work and help. I alone most of time.' Chioke continued. He wipes a tear from his eye. 'I not alone with you… You what I want… You what I need… You my family… You my daddy now… I not want leave… Love you.'

Tony's insecurity of thinking Chioke will leave him is finally settled. He has his answer. After a couple seconds, Tony backs away. He kisses Chioke on the forehead.

"I love you too." Tony said with joy. He walks away. Jamie, who was standing on the other side of the wall, out of the living room, receives a kiss on the lips from her overjoyed husband. Tony finally leaves.

Jamie re-enters into the living room and continues to help Chioke setup the tank for his new pets.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Gibbs arrives at the Marine base in Quantico. Gibbs, along with two members of the military police, barges into the office of Colonel Morgan. The Colonel isn't surprise by the intrusion.

"Colonel Morgan, you're under arrest for the murder of fifteen-year-old Manson Wells in 1987." Gibbs stated. The military police walk around the desk and handcuff the Colonel. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand the rights I just read to you?"

The Colonel remains silent. The military police escort Colonel Morgan to NCIS Headquarters for further questioning. From Quantico, Gibbs heads off to Cedar Grove to meet with the rest of the team as they're on their way there.

In Cedar Grove, Tony parks the car a couple house down from the Morgan residence on Elm Street. The Morgan residence is the only house on the street with lights on. The three of them get out of the vehicle; Tony, Ziva and McGee. They prepare for a raid. After a couple minutes, Gibbs finally arrives. Once the four of them are prepared, they make their way toward the Morgan residence. McGee and Ziva head to the back door. Gibbs and Tony take the front.

The four of them are ready and in position. The front and back doors are kicked in. With the front door kicked in, the noise startles the children inside. Gibbs and Tony enter into the house with guns drawn. Gibbs quickly enters into the family room.

"NCIS, freeze!" Gibbs yelled as he points his gun at one of the adults in the room. Ziva enters the room from the back. All means of escape are blocked. McGee and Tony go around the house in order to clear all the rooms. The youngest children of the room are crying as they have no idea what's going on. The older of the children remain frozen in fear. Gibbs realizes the kids in this room are the children of Elm Street. "I want all the children to remain calm. No one is going to hurt you." He said. Ziva starts to handcuff the first adult. "I need to know if any of you know where they've taken Ryan Willard." Tony finally enters into the room and begins to handcuff the other adult. Gibbs holsters his sidearm. He takes out a photograph of Ryan Willard and hands it to the closest child. "Pass this around. This is a picture of a ten-year-old boy named Ryan Willard. He lives here in Cedar Grove, just a couple blocks away. If any of you know where he is, you have to tell me." The picture is passed around. Gibbs notices the facial expression on one of the children changes. The girl recognizes the boy in the picture. Gibbs approaches her. "Do you recognize the boy in the picture?"

"Yes." The girl said reluctantly.

"Shut up Missy!" One of the adults shouted.

"Get her out of here." Gibbs commanded. Ziva and McGee take the two adults out of the room. "Missy… You're not in trouble. But I need you to tell me where they've taken Ryan."

"They took him to the park." Missy said.

"Shenandoah Park?"

"Yeah…" She nods her head.

"Do you know where in Shenandoah Park?"

"No… All I know is that's where they've taken him."

"DiNozzo…" Gibbs tries to get his attention.

"Yeah Boss?"

"Call the Cedar Grove security. Tell them these children need new babysitters."

Tony walks away in order to make the call. Gibbs walks to the wall and takes out his own phone. While Tony is making his call, Gibbs makes a call of his own. Gibbs contacts the Shenandoah Park Rangers for assistance. He then contacts the FBI, namely, Tobias Fornell. As Gibbs talks to Fornell, Tony contacts the State Police.

Three members of the Cedar Grove security detail arrive at the Morgan residence. NCIS leaves the premises with the two adult suspects in custody. The care of the children is left to the Cedar Grove security.

A massive search party is quickly organized at the ranger station in Shenandoah National Park. The search is for ten-year-old Ryan Willard and the multiple suspects holding him against his will; the adults of Elm Street.

"We need to concentrate our efforts on all highly secluded areas of the park." Gibbs stated.

"The most secluded areas would be here…" A park ranger points to the map on the table. "Here… Here… Here… And here." He points to the other four spots.

"Fornell…" Gibbs tries to get his attention. Fornell looks to him. "Split your people into two teams. Take these two areas." He points to the map. "The suspects may be armed, so be on your guard. And good luck."

"Good luck to you too, Gibbs." Fornell said. He, along with other FBI agents, leaves the ranger station. Two park rangers go with each of the FBI teams to act as a guide.

"Lieutenant DeVille…" Gibbs tries to get the attention of the State Police Lieutenant. He looks to Gibbs. "I want your people to cover these two areas." He points to the map.

Lieutenant DeVille leaves the ranger station. Outside the station, he splits his people into two groups. Two park rangers go with each group as a guide.

NCIS and the remainder of the park rangers are left to cover the final highly secluded area of Shenandoah Park. They all leave the ranger station.

NCIS and the park rangers are now in the forest and on route to their objective. Their objective is the largest of the secluded areas. Once there, they spread out in order to search.

As they search their area, Ziva and McGee walk close together.

"Don't you find it odd how Tony has been so distracted lately, but tonight he hasn't been." McGee said.

"I noticed he's completely focused tonight." Ziva said in response.

"He was gone for two hours before we raided the house. I think him and Jamie… Well… You know." McGee said. "Just think about it… He's distracted, than gone for two hours and when he comes back, he's totally focused."

"You make a valid point." Ziva agreed. "Tony got laid."

"Gibbs is going to kill him when he finds out." McGee said.

Both Ziva and McGee receive a smack on the back of the head.

"If both of you don't shut up, you're the ones I'll kill." Gibbs stated.

After thirty minutes of searching, they finally see light in the distance. Gibbs presses a button on a GPS device. Upon pressing the device, all other park rangers in their area know the suspects have been found and to come to their location immediately. A couple minutes passes. Half of the park rangers in their area arrive. The group moves toward the light. Gibbs motions for each member of NCIS and a couple rangers to approach from every side.

In the area of the light, adults wearing black robes stand around in a circle with the restrained Ryan Willard sitting on a tree stump in the middle. The adults are chanting.

The team approaches the vicinity. One adult, a man wearing a red robe, walks into the middle of the circle with a knife in hand. Finally, the team comes out.

"NCIS, freeze!" Gibbs yelled. He points his weapon.

"Hands up!" Ziva shouted. She points her weapon.

McGee, Tony and the park rangers all point their weapons. The chanters have nowhere to go as they're blocked on all sides.

"Put the weapon down and step away from the boy!" Gibbs yelled at the man in the red robe.

"The rest of you, get on your knees!" Tony shouted.

All of the chanters quickly get on their knees. NCIS and park rangers come in closer, but are still behind the circle. The man in the red robe remains standing and holding a knife near the boy who is sitting on a tree stump.

"I'm warning you…" Gibbs threatened. "Put the weapon down and step away from the boy!" He notices the knife being pulled away; as if the man is going to thrust it into the boy as fast and hard as he can. "Don't even think about it! Put the weapon down!"

The man in the red robe doesn't comply with Gibbs' order. The knife quickly draws closer to the child as the man tries to thrust it into him. Two shots are fired. Smoke draws from Gibbs' sidearm immediately after firing. The man in the red robe falls to the ground. Gibbs approaches. He kicks the knife toward the tree stump. Gibbs holsters his sidearm. He grabs the man in the red robe, while he's on the ground, and turns him over. Handcuffs are slapped on the man. Handcuffs begin to be slapped on all the chanters. Gibbs unties the boy and carries him to safety while other park rangers enter into the area to assist with the arrests.

Ten-year-old Ryan Willard is safe. Gibbs is taking him home to his family.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

In Cedar Grove, Sergeant Willard and his wife hear car doors shut right outside their home. Their excitement grows as they hope whoever is out there is coming to their home with good news. They've tried to keep a positive attitude during the whole ordeal of their son mysteriously disappearing, but they know there's a chance whoever is outside has bad news. The wife opens the front door. Her heart literally stops at the sight of her son running up the walkway, toward her.

"Mommy!" Ryan exclaimed with joy.

Mrs. Willard runs out to her son. Sergeant Willard, who heard his son's voice from inside, also runs out of the house. The two of them smother Ryan with hugs and kisses. Gibbs approaches.

"Thank you Agent Gibbs." Mrs. Willard cried.

"You're welcome." Gibbs said with a smile. There's a moment of silence as Gibbs watches the reunion of the family in front of him. "Ryan…" He tries to get his attention. The boy looks to him. "I need to speak with your parents for a minute."

"Go in the house, Ryan." Sergeant Willard said. Ryan walks away. The mother watches Ryan as he walks to the house. The Sergeant also watches, but breaks to look back at Gibbs earlier than the wife. "What is it Agent Gibbs? Was our boy… Did they…" He tries to finish his thought but is unable to.

"No. It was nothing like that." Gibbs assures them that their son wasn't molested.

"Who kidnapped our son?" Mrs. Willard asked as she finally turns her head away from the house because Ryan is now inside.

"The families on Elm Street were into cult rituals."

"The entire street?!" Sergeant Willard exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, all of them." Gibbs said. "Due to what their parents were involved in, all the children are going to live with relatives. But there's one child who is losing her parents and has no other relatives. So I was wondering if…"

"She can stay here." Sergeant Willard stated as he knew what Gibbs was going to ask of them. "We've always wanted a little girl. And Ryan always wanted a sister."

Gibbs nods as he glad the Willard's have agreed to take in a foster child. He turns and makes a hand motion for the child to come out of the car. The car door opens and the girl steps out. She walks slowly toward the area the three of them are standing. The girl is finally standing next to Gibbs.

"This is Missy." Gibbs introduced her. "She's nine-years-old."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Missy." Mrs. Willard kneels down in order to be face to face with the girl. "I've seen you playing with the other kids around here." She added. "My name's Elizabeth."

"It's nice to meet you too." Missy said.

"I'll contact the department of child services, put in some good words and the two of you can start the paperwork right away." Gibbs said. There's a brief moment of silence. "I'll leave you all to get acquainted." He walks away.

The Willard's, along with Missy, walk into the house. Gibbs gets in his car and goes back to NCIS Headquarters.

At NCIS Headquarters Colonel Morgan and a couple other adults who live on Elm Street in Cedar Grove are all in separate interrogation rooms. The rest of the adults are in jail cells, waiting to be questioned. Only one adult, the man in the red robe, isn't anywhere near NCIS Headquarters as he's in the hospital due to being shot.

Gibbs enters into Interrogation One where Colonel Morgan is waiting. Tony, Ziva and McGee are in the observation room.

"Hello Jethro." Colonel Morgan greeted him while remaining in the chair.

"You may have had the right to call me Jethro a long time ago, but now, you can call me Special Agent Gibbs." Gibbs stated.

"Well Special Agent Gibbs, I want a lawyer."

"You're going to need a damn good one." Gibbs said with confidence. He continues speaking; trying to provoke the Colonel.

Meanwhile, in the observation room, Tony has a confused expression on his face.

"Okay, what exactly happened while I was gone for two hours?" Tony wondered. "Cause I obviously missed something important."

"Ducky was still examining the bones at the time you left." McGee said. "Two of the bones from the 1987 victim had striation marks which Abby matched to a knife owned by Colonel Morgan." He continued. Tony still has a somewhat confused facial expression.

"A long time ago Gibbs was in Colonel Morgan's office begging to get into Cedar Grove…" Ziva begins to say.

"Ha!" Tony laughed. "Gibbs begging… I don't believe that."

"It was before he was deployed to Iraq." McGee said.

"And before the car accident that killed Shannon and nearly killing Kelly…" Ziva added.

"Oh…" Tony said as things are starting to make a little more sense to him now.

"While Gibbs was in Colonel Morgan's office, there was a knife on the shelf behind him. The murder weapon was in plain sight all those years." McGee said.

"From the marks on the bone, Abby was able to show Gibbs a 3-D model of what the knife looked like." Ziva added.

"So Gibbs recognized it." McGee said.

"Gibbs contacted Colonel Morgan's daughter. He knew her somehow." Ziva stated. "The daughter still lives with Colonel Morgan so Gibbs was invited into the house. No search warrant was needed because Colonel Morgan gave her the knife as a present a long time ago. It's an antique from the 1600's and she always liked it." She continued. "The Colonel moved out of Cedar Grove in 1994. The son took over the home. So it's the son who lives in Cedar Grove. The son is also the man who was wearing the red robe."

"Gibbs pushed an arrest warrant for Colonel Morgan with the legal department…" McGee begins to say.

"Apparently, a lot can happen in two hours." Tony said.

"Like you and Jamie having sex." Ziva stated.

"Is that what you think I did in the two hours?"

"Yes." McGee answered.

Tony smacks McGee on the back of the head.

"You shouldn't assume anything, Probie." Tony said. "In the two hours I was gone, me and Jamie didn't have sex."

"And we're supposed to believe you?" Ziva asked.

"It's the truth." Tony said. He notices the expression on their faces as they still don't believe him. "The two of you can think what you want… But me and Jamie didn't have sex."

"Yeah… Right…" McGee said sarcastically.

"Oh sure, of course not." Ziva said in a sarcastic tone of voice even though she knows Tony is telling the truth.

Inside the interrogation room, Gibbs has been continuing to talk in hopes of provoking the Colonel.

"My son is an idiot!" Colonel Morgan stands up and slams his hand onto the table. "I told him what to do and how to handle the sacrifice! If he only did as he was told and abducted a troubled teen than NCIS would've never found out and it would've been labeled as a runaway like the other three!"

"I forgot to mention this really isn't your son's fault." Gibbs said.

"What?" Colonel Morgan is confused. He sits back down.

"But before you clam-up and not speak anymore, I want you to meet somebody." Gibbs walks to the door. The door opens. A leash is handed to Gibbs. The dog walks into the room with him. The dog sits next to Gibbs. "When this case first started I had a feeling the child didn't runaway. I had a feeling the three missing teenagers over the course of Cedar Grove's history were also not runaways. But I couldn't quite put my finger on it at the time."

"What the hell does a dog have to do with any of this?"

"We were coming up empty on everything. No evidence… Nothing." Gibbs said. "This dog… His name is Scraps, by the way… Is what screwed you. It wasn't a person who broke this case. It was a dog. You wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for the dog. Scraps gave us everything we needed in order to reach this point." He continued. "You got beat by a dog, Colonel."

There's a brief moment of silence.

"The majority of marines living in Cedar Grove have been deployed to Iraq earlier today." Colonel Morgan stated. "Cedar Grove marines are going to start dying because of what you done. My family founded the community…"

"And were worshipers of an ancient cult who sacrificed a youngster every twenty years for the protection of whatever stupid higher power you all believed in. Your family has had the families of Elm Street brainwashed for decades. Followers of your family's cult beliefs and killing innocent children!" Gibbs said.

"It was a sacrifice to keep our people, our community protected."

"A long time ago, I came into your office and practically begged to get into Cedar Grove…" Gibbs begins to say.

"If you were in Cedar Grove your family wouldn't be dead, Special Agent Gibbs."

"That's where you're wrong. Though my wife Shannon is dead… My daughter Kelly survived." Gibbs said. He pauses for a couple seconds. "I don't know why I ever thought there was anything my family needed in Cedar Grove. Why I thought we had to be there is beyond me… But I was wrong about one thing. It's not a place which protects you… It's the faith in your loved ones. At the time I didn't realize it."

"Either way, the blood of the Cedar Grove marines is on your hands, Special Agent Gibbs." Colonel Morgan stated. "You doomed them all."

"All I did was save the life of an innocent child."

Gibbs opens the door to the room. He and Scraps leave the interrogation room. The team is left to sort through the mess of multiple suspects for a couple hours.


	11. Chapter 11

**Wednesday**

**Chapter 11**

After a long couple of hours sorting through multiple suspects, Gibbs and Tony arrive at the house around 02:30 in the morning. The front door opens. The two of them walk into the foyer. The door closes. They walk away from the door. Tony walks a bit faster as he knows Gibbs will notice what's in the living room. They're passing the living room. Gibbs stops in his tracks as he realizes the light coming from the living room is greater than normal. His head slowly turns to the right.

"DiNozzo…" Gibbs said softly to not wake-up anybody. He's looking directly at the new tank which is setup near the lobster tank. Tony stops in his tracks and turns around. Gibbs motions for Tony to come closer. He does. Tony pretends to be innocent. "What the hell is that?" He points to the new tank in his living room.

"Funny thing happened…" Tony begins to say. He notices the irritable expression on Gibbs' face. "Those are baby iguanas."

"I can see that." Gibbs already knows since he recognizes what iguanas look like. "Why the hell are they in my house?"

"Those are Chioke's new pets." Tony smiles with innocence. "Come on Gibbs… A dog would be running around the house. At least the iguanas are contained."

"That's not the point, Tony." Gibbs said. "You're a guest in my home until you have your own."

"In a month the guy next door will finally move and we'll be out of here. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is you not respecting the rules I laid down before the three of you moving in." Gibbs said. "This isn't your house, Tony. This is my house. As a favor to you, I allowed you to move into my home until yours is ready. And you know one of my rules is no pets… Except the lobster because you already had that."

Jamie walks down the stairs.

"You guys need to keep it down." Jamie said as she's half asleep.

"Sorry for waking you." Tony apologized.

"I was just unaware of the new pets." Gibbs said. "It kind of shocked me."

"Apologies accepted." Jamie said as she finally approaches them. "But it's not me you should be apologizing to." She points into the living room.

Both Tony and Gibbs turn to look in the direction Jamie is pointing. In the living room, on the couch, Chioke is awakened by the recent noise. He tries to sit up straight, but is too tired to do so. He can only get to the point of pushing himself up as far as his arm allow. Chioke is more asleep than awake as he can hardly keep his eyes open. He slowly shrinks back down toward the couch.

"He was waiting up for you, Tony." Jamie said.

Tony walks into the living room. He approaches the couch where Chioke is once again sleeping. He kneels down next to the couch. Tony looks at the sleeping Chioke. The innocence of a sleeping child seems to be the most precious thing for Tony to see right now, so he smiles. Tony thinks about foolish it was to allow the thought of losing Chioke to consume him for any length of time. He starts to gently stroke Chioke's head in loving fatherly way. Jamie enters into the living and places her hand on Tony's shoulder. Gibbs enters into the room and places his hand on Tony's other shoulder.

"Chioke's my son. I'm his father." Tony stated proudly. "I'm sorry to say this, Gibbs… But Chioke's happiness means more to me than your house rules."

"Don't worry about it. Right now I'm looking on the bright side." Gibbs said. Tony turns his head to look up at Gibbs. Tony is confused by the statement.

"What bright side?" Tony wondered.

"Does Guantanamo Bay ring a bell?" Gibbs said. He looks down at Tony with an evil smirk.

"You wouldn't." Tony hoped. Gibbs walks away.

"Wait…" Jamie is confused about the reference. "What happened in Guantanamo Bay?"

"Nothing…" Tony said.

"Oh come on, tell me." Jamie pleaded.

Tony gently places his hands under Chioke and lifts him up. He wakes slightly. The half asleep Chioke is lifted into Tony's arms. Chioke eyes try hard to remain open, but his effort proves to be unsuccessful. Chioke is once again sleeping; this time in his father's arms.

Tony carries Chioke upstairs to the bedroom. Jamie goes with them. Once in the room, Chioke is carefully placed on the bed. Jamie pulls the covers up. Tony places Chioke's Curious George stuffed animal right next to him. They each tuck Chioke in from the side of the bed their on. Tony and Jamie's hand meet each other across the bed. They look into each other's eyes and smile. Their hands release after a couple seconds. Jamie walks around the bed to where Tony is. Together, they look down at the sleeping Chioke. They feel pride in knowing they're just what he needs.

"We're very lucky to have him." Jamie said softly in order to not wake him.

"And he's lucky to have us." Tony added.

The two of them leave the room so Chioke can sleep. Tony and Jamie walk to her bedroom. Jamie enters into the room with Tony right behind her. Tony suddenly stops while in the threshold of the doorway.

"I don't think so, DiNozzo." Gibbs said as he pulls Tony out of the doorway. While inside the bedroom, Jamie tries to hold her laughter in.

"I had to try." Tony chuckled as Gibbs glares at him. He walks toward the other bedroom; the bedroom Chioke is in. There's a cot setup in the room which Tony sleeps on. "I'm not even allowed to sleep in the same bed with my wife." He muttered to himself as he walks toward the other bedroom. "This is ridiculous. Gibbs' house rules suck."

"I heard that, Tony."

"I didn't mean it, Boss."

Tony enters into the bedroom and walks to the cot so he can go to sleep. Gibbs remains standing in the hallway, just outside Jamie's room. He looks to her.

"You up for working on the boat?" Gibbs wondered.

"Always." Jamie said with a smile.

The two of them go down to the basement. The door is closed to help keep any noise muffled to not wake Tony and Chioke. The two of them worked on the boat in silence for a couple minutes. The silence is finally broke.

"Do you think I'm defiant?" Jamie wondered as she recalls what Agent Harris said to yesterday during the interview.

"You… Defiant… Never." Gibbs said jokingly. He notices the expression on her face. "There are certain times when you're defiant, yes. It depends on the situation. Why do you ask?"

"Curious, I guess." She goes back to work on the boat.

"Sweetie…" He tries to get her attention. "You're never curious without a reason."

"Chioke named the iguanas, Timon and Pumbaa, from the movie; The Lion King." Jamie tries to change the subject. There's a brief moment of silence.

"You want to visit mom tomorrow?" Gibbs asked. He realizes Jamie has something on her mind but doesn't want to push it. She'll come to him with what's bothering her when she's ready.

"I'd like that." Jamie said with a smile.

The two of them continue working on their boat. They work in almost totally silence for about an hour. They finally stop working after about an hour. Gibbs and Jamie go upstairs to their rooms and go to sleep.

**THE END**

This concludes the story "Devil's Playground". Coming soon will be the next story in this series. But until then, I hope you enjoyed this story.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: **This is the 2nd document I posted for this story today. So be sure to read the chapter before this. The previous chapter, chapter 11, is the final chapter to this story. The following is just an extra information type of thing. It's a character profile of Jamie. I actually wrote the below profile sometime during the end of the last story "For the Love of a Child" and posted it on the NFA site. I recalled the CBS website has character profiles for Gibbs, Tony, Abby and Ducky. Below is the profile I made for Jamie while using the CBS profiles as a guideline on how to do it. The profile below has information about Jamie which has been mentioned at some point in the series. It also includes information I haven't mentioned in the series. Anyway… Earlier in the story you just read, Jamie had an interview. I kind of incorporated this profile as being that interview.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Jamie Gibbs: A Character Profile**

File: 0B671429 – 00052B

Subject: Gibbs-DiNozzo, J. C.

Classification: Confidential _Director's eyes only_

Prepared by: NCIS Special Agent Adam Harris

**Employee Assessment File**

**Name:** Original name; Kelly Catherine Gibbs. Foster name; Jamie Corinne Samson. Now known as; Jamie Catherine Gibbs-DiNozzo.

_Note_: Made it a point to make sure I wrote all three names. Even looked over my shoulder and smacked me on the back of the head.

**Known Aliases:** None.

_Note_: From the expression on her face, there are no aliases which are appropriate for this interview; she's married to Special Agent DiNozzo, what do you expect?

**Age:** Almost 24; seems to stress the fact and I'm unclear why.

**Physical Appearance:** Exact height; 5'8". Weight; she's not willing to discuss without a crowbar in hand. Eye color; hazel-green. Hair color; natural medium auburn with a couple golden blond streaks dyed in. Tattoos; admitted to four tattoos which cover scarring caused by a car accident when she was eight-years-old.

**Education: **Graduated two years late from high school; missed two years of earlier schooling due to car accident at age eight. Was attending Virginia State University for a Bachelor's Degree in Biology/Life Sciences in order to become a Research Scientist, but was expelled after throwing a professor through a window; no sexual harassment charges were filed against the professor due to lack of evidence. Attended a community college as last minute alternative; worked on prerequisite courses to be transferred to the next university she would eventually attend. Attending the next University never fell through due to life changing incident when foster family was murdered.

**Current Occupation:** Part-time Forensics Assistant for NCIS and studying with Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto. She's a full-time student; Forensic Science courses. Looking to be hired as full-time Forensics assistant for NCIS but must complete courses first. Also, full-time babysitter of one Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (husband) and mother to adopted Nigerian son Chioke.

_Note_: After the mention of Chioke, the subject spent the next thirty-five minutes talking about him, showing me pictures and did everything to avoid returning back to the interview.

**Special Skills: ** Skilled in unconventional interrogation techniques; ball crushing. American Sign Language (ASL), fluent in Italian. Is highly talented in playing a particular musical instrument; namely the violin. Has the uncanny ability to instantly earn the trust of anybody. The subject possesses the skillful ability to wrap Special Agent Gibbs around her little finger.

**Medical Evaluation:** At eight-years-old, she was in car accident which almost claimed her life. Was pronounced dead at the hospital, but miraculously was brought back to life and spent several months in a coma before waking up. She had amnesia for eleven years. Due to the car accident, she became partially blind in her left. As a pre-teen, she fell through a bridge scraping the inner portion of her right arm and breaking her right leg upon impact in the creek below. Upon the murder of her last foster family member, she was badly beaten and shot twice in the left leg. Most recently, the subject miscarried due to a violent blow to the abdomen; uterine wall is still healing.

Upon the physical examination by a Physician, other than the subject's uterine wall still healing, she's in perfect physical health and in top physical condition. Blood pressure and heart rate are normal. Drug screen came back clean. The Physician records almost perfect vision with her right eye but decreasing vision in her left eye. At the time of the exam, the subject's left eye can see objects clearly if they're within five feet but with decreasing vision, she'll eventually be completely blind in her left eye within two years.

_Note_: The amount of threats the examining Physician received is normal to the amount I received. At least I know it's not just me.

**Psychological Evaluation:** The subject is a confident young woman who can be quite stubborn at times. She can be very defiant depending on the situation. It's noted she slapped her father in face and stood up to a hostage-taker in a bank.

_Note_: I request a copy of the security tape from the day she slapped her father, Special Agent Gibbs. This is my unofficial request for the tape because it's needed for… Evaluation purposes. I can't believe I missed it!

The subject tries to avoid the topic of losing her unborn child. Subject feels somewhat guilty that her defiance cost the life of her unborn child; will never admit to it.

_Note_: The loss of her unborn child is still sensitive subject matter; sensitive to the point where I was repeatedly threatened, even by means of using hot fire poker.

Even though the subject is very confident, she possesses insecurities. Due to the poor vision of her left eye, she fears bumping into things and looking foolish because of it. The most noticeable insecurity is the possibility of losing her father's love. Though she knows it will never happen, she can't help the feeling; especially after a couple years of dealing with abandonment issues.

**Personal Relationships:** The subject always has a father/daughter relationship with Special Agent Gibbs at all times, even in the work place. She speaks highly of her father and loves when he reads the story "The Velveteen Rabbit" to her, even at her current age. The subject has a strong, solid relationship with her father and speaks highly of his soft side.

_Note_: The subject describes her father as: loving, kind-hearted, caring, nice, soft-natured, compassionate, sensitive, tender, open, receptive, talkative, patient… The list continued. I had to refrain from laughing hysterically at the thought of Special Agent Gibbs being described this way; especially with knowing his reputation and the frequency of him being referred to as a "bastard" by almost everyone who ever met him.

The subject has only had one seriously intimate relationship in her life. She's currently married to Special Agent DiNozzo.

_Note_: From what is known of Special Agent DiNozzo, I recommend this subject to be on medication. Either that or she deserves a medal for putting up with him. Enough said.

I tried to avoid asking the subject about her personal relationship with her adopted son Chioke because enough of my tape was wasted the first time around. But on her own, the subject mentioned Chioke; she went on and on and started showing me pictures again. From the tone of her voice and the expression on her face, she has healthy motherly instincts. After twenty minutes of talking about Chioke, I kept looking at my watch in hopes she would take the hint that we need to get back on track with the interview. She said if I don't stop looking at my watch and pay attention to the pictures she would take the watch shove it where the sun doesn't shine.

_Note_: When interviewing a female employee who has a child, make sure they don't bring a handbag with them because the majority of what's in this subject's handbag are pictures. It may save future interviewers the trouble of sitting through an hour of kid pictures. Chioke is an adorable kid though.

**Troublesome Footnote:** It's rumored the subject dressed up as slave girl Princess Leia wearing the golden bikini from the movie "Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi" for her husband. The origin of the rumor is undetermined.

_Note_: Due to the amount of threats, even the unmentioned ones, I received during this interview, it's my observation the subject may have possible anger management issues toward authority figures. When not threatening people, she's actually very nice and likes to joke around.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd say "THE END" but I already did that in the chapter preceding this profile LoL! Hope you enjoyed this character profile as extra information. Stay tuned for the next story in this series.


End file.
